Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan told a Colorado television station that he thinks the federal government shouldn’t interfere with states that have legalized medical marijuana.
Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, told KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs that he personally doesn’t approve of medical marijuana laws. But he said that states should have the right to choose whether to legalize the drug for medical purposes.
“It’s up to Coloradans to decide,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. A clip of the interview aired Friday.
Ryan added that the issue would not be “a high priority” in a Romney-Ryan administration.
Ryan taped the interview while campaigning this week in Colorado Springs.
A spokesman for Ryan later said that Ryan agrees with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who has said that marijuana should never be legalized.
Romney told a Colorado reporter earlier this year, “I think marijuana should not be legal in this country. I believe it’s a gateway drug to other drug violations.”